Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-05-18
EDITOR O'BRIEN's MISSION.
1t Was Failure In Montreal, According to
Dean Carmichael.

1t Was IA Failure In Montreal, According To
Dean Carmichael.
CHICAGO, May 1.-THE Very Rev.
Dean Carmichael, of ST. Georges Church,
Montreal, who is at present visiting in this
city, was asked by reporter how Editor
O'Brien's mission to Canada was looked on
in Montreal He said:
81 know very little about the real feel
ing there, but from observations should
Judge that the mission had fallen fat
The respectable Irish Catholics were evi-
deutly far from enthusiastic over the affair
and l am right in saying that Father
ODOwd, the leading Irish Catholic cler-
gyman, was utterly opposed TO Mr.
O'Brien's visit under the circumstances
Mr.. O'Brien'S meeting was held in the old
Zion Church, which only seats 700 or 800,
and was told by one who was there that
the building was not more than half full
The reason for the lack of interest
shown by his own countrymen seems
simple to me, but, of fcOurse, cannot speak
with authority. The Irish Canadians are
most loyal people. No doubt they would
be glad to see Ireland obtain home rule in
the way Isaac Butt advocated it-that is,
giving Ireland lust the same constitutional
liberty that Canada enjoys. The Irish
Canadians know the advantages of their
own system, and would doubtless be dis
ciples Of Butts method for Ireland. But
the present agitation, carried on in the
name Of Home Rule, certainly does not re-
ceiye the cordial support of the best ele-
ment among Irish-Canadians.
mo matter how favorable the Irish
Protestant in Canada might be TO this lin
tied home rule, they do not wish to call
themselves Home Rulers since the name
has 80 degenerated. To be q Home Ruler
under present conditions means TO be an
Out-and-Out sympsthizer with the methods
and agitation Of the present Irish leaders,
and these they naturally repudiate'
Mr.. 0'Brien replied as follows, amid
tremendous cheering:
"Mr. AHRigdR and Gentlemen:
assure you that not for the first time,
nor for the fiftieth time since came to
Canada my heart has been overfowing
with gratitude for the wonderful way in
which our fellow cOuntrymen here in
Canada have s.eered Killride ana myself
in difficulty and trial. If we were to live
a hundred years We could never
forget you for the way in
which you risked yourselves and the
danger you had to face for siding with rs
against tina. great and powerful man WI o
has left hundreds of poor men women and
children homeless, far away in Ireland, in
Luggacurran. LOud cheers1. IHoots
and grOanS. | cannot express my sense of
the way our excited fellow countrymen
have behaved in this mission. Cheer and
groans. If the London Times had its
way it would be literally treason to love
US and death to defend Thank God, the
London Times is not going TO have its way
here, lGroans for the Times, in Toronto
or anywhere else very much longer.
Great cheering and some hOots and
Kisses. When l speak of the heroism of
our people which they have displayed in
this matter. / need not say that l do not
refer to mere threats of personal violence
or attacks, because | take it for granted
that on this free soil of Canada, at this
time OF the day, no citizen Of Canada is gO-
ing to
ATTEMPT TO ISTIMIDArR
US by wild threats, or by honrishing re-
Tolvers, ore by brandishing anything Of the
sort in our faces. Cheers and some boots. I
Our countrymeD in Canada have had much
more serious and substantial social and
political risks than that to face in taking
our part and arraying themselves with us
against the powerful influences which are
against US in Canada to-day.
1t is easy enough and cheap enough to
find common frieLds, but this is a matter
which tests to the core the sincerity ,ahJ
sympathy Of our people in Canada in their
love for Ireland. tCheers and applause. ]
The old instincts Of your Irish hearts